Romans Chapter 3

What Makes Us Righteous? 

The law (being Good) or Christ?
All people of all Nations are all sinners. Those who try and be good and live by the law, all fail miserably. Therefore no one can be declared righteous based on their own attempt to be good at all times. In fact, because of the law, we become aware that we are sinners. We become aware that we aren’t as perfect as we may think we are. Therefore no one can obtain righteousness or heaven based upon their own attempts to be perfect.
The righteousness we need to obtain heaven has been made available to us by our faith in the atonement work of Christ.
We are declared righteous because of Jesus sacrificing his body and shedding his blood for the forgiveness of our sins. That’s what atonement is.
Because we are declared righteous by Jesus and our faith in what he did for us, does that mean we no longer need to follow God’s laws? Yes, we still need to follow God’s law. Obedience to God’s law is evidence of our love for Jesus in what he did for us. Because we love God we will want to obey him. Yes, we will still fail, but because God is faithful he is also just to forgive us of our failures when we confess our failures and sins.
Have a GOOD Day. Better yet, Have a RIGHTEOUS Day in Christ.